E.On to repay £1.4m exit fees

UK regulator finds E.ON guilty of overcharging customers who left after price hikes.

Energy supplier E.On is to pay back around £1.4m to approximately 94,000 customers who were incorrectly charged exit fees or overcharged following price rises, regulator Ofgem has announced.

Ofgem said E.On had also agreed to make an additional payment of around
£300,000 to a consumer fund run in partnership with Age UK as a "goodwill
gesture".

The regulator said it had "secured a commitment" from E.On to pay
back the money after the supplier recognised it had failed to meet licence
obligations relating to the 30-day notice of price rises it is required to
give customers.

The 30-day rule gives customers the chance to switch suppliers before the
increase takes effect. They do not incur exit fees or the higher charges if
they signal their intention to move within this time, even if the switch
occurs after the price rise.

Ofgem said it had been assured by E.On that all of the consumers affected had
been identified and would be contacted and sent a rebate of an average of
£14.83. The amount includes 8pc interest on the amount they were incorrectly
charged.

Sarah Harrison, Ofgem's senior partner in charge of enforcement, said: "Ofgem
has put in place protections for consumers so they can get a fair warning if
their supplier puts up prices and time to shop around for a better deal.

"E.On has accepted it failed to meet these protections. Today's
announcement that E.On will compensate customers is a positive step by the
company to put right their mistakes and is welcome."

In a statement on its website, E.On apologised for incorrectly applying
increases to some former customers who left the company after price rise
announcements in 2008 and 2011. It said those affected had been identified
by E.On and would be sent cheques to refund the money owed, with interest
added, in January next year. The average payment would be £14.83.

E.On said that problems with its switching process meant many leaving
customers were charged the new, higher price on the days that the switch was
still passing through the system.

It said: "Customers who told E.On they were changing energy supplier
immediately after the price rises in 2008 and 2011 will receive a cheque to
pay back the money owed by the company with interest added. E.On will pay
out an approximate total of £1.4 to around 94,000 customers. All customers
due this payment have been identified and no action is required on their
behalf."

E.On's customer service director, David Bird, said: "We are very sorry to
have let down some of our former customers and have made clear that we will
refund the money plus interest. Our systems are being updated to ensure this
mistake can never happen again.

"We've been open in our failure with the energy regulator, Ofgem, and are
pleased to have agreed with them how we can put this right and have
identified all customers who are due to receive payment from us in January."

21st Century Fox, the international film and television giant behind hit shows like The Simpsons and Modern Family, has tabled a takeover bid for Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) , the owner of Sky News. 21st Century Fox, whose other media assets … More »

21st Century Fox, the international film and television giant behind hit shows like The Simpsons and Modern Family, has tabled a takeover bid for Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) , the owner of Sky News. 21st Century Fox, whose other media assets … More »

The beginning of 2016 was marred by the Chinese stock market crashing following the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in the US. Fast forward to December and China seems to no longer be the centre of investor concerns – being more distracted … More »

US media company 21st Century Fox has tabled a takeover bid for Sky PLC. "The Independent Directors of Sky PLC note today's share price increase, and announce that Sky has received an approach from ... … More »

The questions of what will they look like and who will control them are now answered. The next two decades, predicts Benedict Evans, a partner at venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, will be how smartphones redefine myriad industries from … More »

Glencore (GLEN) has announced that as part of a consortium with the Qatar Investment Authority, the firm is in the final stages of acquiring a 19.5% interest in Rosneft shares. First, the size of Glencore’s investment is fairly small. Despite the … More »

The chairman of one of Britain's largest pub chains and one of the most vocal business leaders on the Leave campaign launched another scathing attack on the European Union and those who back staying within the 28-nation bloc. Tim Martin, chairman … More »

Working for Airbnb apparently isn’t as spectacularly amazing as it was last year. Last year, the sharing economy mascot took the top spot on Glassdoor’s list of best places to work, beating out companies like Facebook and Google. But on the newly … More »

The UK’s trade deficit in goods and services fell by £3.8 billion ($4.7 billion) in October, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The figures are the first from the Office for National Statistics since it admitted calculating … More »

This point is particularly well illustrated in the “surprise” conventional commentators had with first the Brexit and then Trump. Of course, a troubled geopolitical situation is traditionally good for Gold, and this has been a rather more counter … More »

The UK does not spend much on research and development and it could be the key to solving the country's low productivity problem. The puzzle is simply put: why do UK workers take five days to make what the French do in four? The Oxford Sciences … More »

Nigeria has been synonymous with corruption for many years now. Repeatedly, governments have been characterized by wayward spending and a lack of accountability. But many people hoped the country had taken a turn for better when, in May 2015, … More »

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein may not have voted for President-elect Donald Trump, but he is ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Mr. Trump may turn out to be a much better president than anyone else might have been in that place," … More »

A usually reticent voice is leading the crusade against Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. Two weeks after criticising the move in the upper house of India’s parliament, former prime minister Manmohan Singh has once … More »

Narendra Modi is in a hurry to transform the way India’s economy works. A month after the Indian prime minister surprisingly withdrew all the Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes—which accounted for as much as 86% of the cash in circulation—his government, on … More »

The euro dived and stocks surged on Thursday, after the European Central Bank announced a six-month extension to its quantitative easing programme. The bank said that it will keep buying up eurozone corporate and government debt until at least … More »

A rare Enigma machine designed for use by the German Navy during World War II has smashed its estimate by selling for a record-breaking £367,000. The fully operational M4 Naval Enigma was ordered in 1941 by the head of the German Navy Admiral Karl

It has been a busy year for the global financial markets. On the 15 September this year, the UK government gave the go-ahead for a new £18 billion nuclear power station in Somerset, financed by the French and Chinese governments. On the 27 June of … More »

Also on Yahoo

Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE, and NYSEAmex when available. See also delay times for other exchanges. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.